Stackable communications device for sensor information processing and delivery

ABSTRACT

As sensor technology becomes more pervasive in our daily lives, an issue which arises is how to efficiently deal with the large volume of data created by these sensors. Typically, a sensor is capable of capturing far more information than is necessary for use in any given application. However, different types and amounts of data may be needed for different applications and different levels of accuracy at different times. Therefore, it is desirable that sensors are able to continue to collect comprehensive amounts of data and to send it to a unit which is able to optimize the data storage and transmission in order to reduce both upstream and downstream burdens caused by large sensor data volumes. Disclosed herein are several examples of communications devices. Communications devices can be modular, as shown, and/or stackable, as shown. An advantage to modular/stackable systems is that they can be easily customized to specific demands.

FIELD OF INVENTION

The present invention relates to the field of sensor technology, inparticular to a communications device for processing and relaying sensordata.

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION

It is becoming increasingly common to use sensors in daily life.Additionally, it is becoming more common to pair sensors with mobilephones. A problem that arises is that sensors create a large amount ofdata and storing, processing and transferring that data is resourceintensive. For example, pairing several sensors and external devices toa mobile phone can easily drain the phone's battery and slow down thephone by using a significant portion of the phone's processing power.Additionally, there is a drive to make sensors smaller and lighter. Itis difficult to achieve these goals while keeping processing power andinformation storage within sensors or mobile phones.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

As sensor technology becomes more pervasive in our daily lives, an issuewhich arises is how to efficiently deal with the large volume of datacreated by these sensors. Typically, a sensor is capable of capturingfar more information than is necessary for use in any given application.However, different types and amounts of data may be needed for differentapplications and different levels of accuracy at different times.Therefore, it is desirable that sensors are able to continue to collectcomprehensive amounts of data and to send it to a unit which is able tooptimize the data storage and transmission in order to reduce bothupstream and downstream burdens caused by large sensor data volumes.

Disclosed is a stackable communications device for sensor informationprocessing and delivery, said stackable communications device maycomprise some or all of the following: a link device having a case andwithin the case having: at least one receiver for receiving sensor datafrom at least one external sensor; at least one transmitter fortransmitting data over a wireless communications channel; a processorand memory for processing and storing received sensor data prior totransmission and a short term battery, wherein the memory of the linkdevice has stored thereon computer readable instructions for optimizingat least one characteristic of received sensor data for transmissionover the wireless communications channel, and the memory has storagecapacity for storing raw received sensor data, wherein the case of thelink device has a size and geometry such that the link device isportable and stackable with at least one additional unit of a stackablecommunications device, and at least one additional power unit which isseparate from and stackable with the link device, wherein the at leastone additional power unit has a case which has a size and geometry whichis compatible with that of the case of the link device such that thelink device can be stacked on the at least one additional power unit andthe additional power unit is capable of powering the link device whenstacked.

Additionally, according to certain embodiments there is at least oneadditional power units which is a battery, and wherein the battery iscapable of powering the link device through inductive coupling when in astacked configuration.

Still yet, according to certain embodiments there is at least oneadditional power unit which is a charging unit, wherein the chargingunit has a power input for connecting to an external power source, andwherein the charging unit is capable of powering the link device and/oranother power unit through inductive coupling when in a stackedconfiguration.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows an example of a stacked set of elements in a stackedcommunications device.

FIG. 2 shows the elements from FIG. 1 but separated from each other.

FIG. 3 shows an example link device.

FIG. 4 shows an example auxiliary device.

FIG. 5 shows an example charging unit.

FIG. 6a shows an example of a stacked set of elements in a stackedcommunications device including a link device and an auxiliary device.

FIG. 6b shows an example of a stacked set of elements in a stackedcommunications device including a link device and a charging unit.

FIG. 7 shows a wire frame view of the elements from FIG. 2.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

As sensor technology becomes more pervasive in our daily lives, an issuewhich arises is how to efficiently deal with the large volume of datacreated by these sensors. Typically, a sensor is capable of capturingfar more information than is necessary for use in any given application.However, different types and amounts of data may be needed for differentapplications and different levels of accuracy at different times.Therefore, it is desirable that sensors are able to continue to collectcomprehensive amounts of data and to send it to a unit which is able tooptimize the data storage and transmission in order to reduce bothupstream and downstream burdens caused by large sensor data volumes.

Disclosed herein are several examples of communications devices.Communications devices can be modular, as shown, and/or stackable, asshown. An advantage to modular/stackable systems is that they can beeasily customized to specific demands.

FIG. 1 shows an example of a modular and stacked communications device10. The communications device 10 in FIG. 1 includes a link device 12, anauxiliary device 14 and a charging unit 16. Stackable and/or modularcommunications devices can comprise any combination of at least one linkdevice and at least one other element, e.g. an auxiliary device orcharging unit. The stackable communications device need not be stacked,but should be stackable, for example as shown in FIG. 2. Other modulararrangements are conceived where the modular elements need not bestacked in order to work but can be otherwise connected or arrangedwithin an environment and work together as described with regards to thestackable embodiments herein. While the remainder of the disclosurediscusses primarily stackable embodiments, the same knowledge,principles and disclosure relates in kind to other modular embodiments.

FIG. 3 shows an example of a link device 12. The link device 12 can be,for example, the top element in a stacked system. As such, it maycontain a logo or identifier 31. The logo or identifier may be printedor it may be digital or otherwise luminous. Additionally, a screen canbe provided in place of the logo 31.

The link device 12 can be specially configured to collect and processsensor data from one or more sensors. The link device 12 can also bespecially configured to pass along raw and/or optimized sensor data toone or more additional devices which use the transmitted data.

A link device may have a case, as shown in the figures, and housedwithin the case a number of features. Examples of some features include:at least one receiver for receiving sensor data from at least oneexternal sensor; at least one transmitter for transmitting data over awireless communications channel; a processor and memory for processingand storing received sensor data prior to transmission and a short-termbattery.

A short-term battery can have a capacity for operating the link deviceunder a predetermined work load for a predetermined time-span. Forexample, the short-term battery can be selected such that under normalenvironmental conditions, the link device can be powered by theshort-term battery for a span of, e.g. 12, 24, 36 or 48 hours, whilemonitoring 3-5 external sensors, processing their data and transmittingthe processed data. As one of the key factors to the size and weight ofconsumer electronics in today's age is the battery capacity, selecting abattery size which is optimal such that it does not need to be chargedmany times within a day but also does not hinder theusability/portability of the device is useful.

As usage can vary significantly and therefore battery requirements canvary significantly, a system can include one or more auxiliarybatteries. FIG. 4 shows an example of an auxiliary unit 14. Examples ofauxiliary units are auxiliary batteries, hard drives, processing units,enhanced transmission units, enhanced reception units, auxiliaryantennas, recording devices (such as a camera or microphone), auxiliarysecurity devices and sensors. One of ordinary skill will recognizefurther auxiliary units which can be used in the systems disclosedherein and which do not depart from the scope of the present invention.

An auxiliary battery unit can be coupled to the link device, as shown inFIG. 6a , in order to extend the battery life of the link device.Similarly, an auxiliary hard drive can be coupled to the link device inthe same way in order to extend the storage capacity of the link device.

As long term use of any high consumption power electronic needs acharger/recharger, a charging unit 16, as shown in FIG. 5, can be addedto a system. A charging unit 16 can include a power input 51, such as aDC in, a USB or other power input. The charging unit 16 may also includea power chord. A charging unit 16 can be coupled directly to a linkdevice as shown in FIG. 6b . Similarly, A charging unit 16 can becoupled directly to one or more auxiliary units.

As can be seen clearly in FIGS. 1, 6 a, 6 b and 7, the case of the linkdevice has a size and geometry such that the link device is portable andstackable with at least one additional device of a stackablecommunications device. Similarly, in stackable embodiments in particularthe case of each of the elements is such that they can be easily stackedwith other elements in the system, as shown.

The link device, any auxiliary device, charging unit and any otherstackable elements of a stackable communications device can have caseswith a top surface, a bottom surface and a side wall connecting the topand bottom surfaces and giving the element a thickness, as shown in thefigures. The perimeters of the top and bottom surfaces of adjacentstackable elements can be essentially the same. For example, in thefigures the perimeter of the bottom of the link device 12 matches withthe perimeter of the top surface of the auxiliary device 14 and that ofthe perimeter of the top surface of the charging unit 16. Similarly, theperimeter of the top and bottom surfaces of the auxiliary device 14match with the bottom and top surfaces of the link device and chargingdevice respectively. In the figures, the link device is meant to bealways the top unit and therefore can have a unique top surface which isnot compatible with other surfaces of other elements. Additionally, thecharging unit is meant to be on the bottom of a stack and may haveadditional elements, such as feet of some type, and thus be incompatiblewith other surfaces of other elements. However, stackable communicationsdevices can be created where any element can be in any order and thuseach top and bottom surface of each element should be compatible withanother element's surfaces. Additionally, a stackable communicationsdevice can be created where there is a specific order of stacking andhave thus more specific case geometries, e.g. in a pyramid.

The processor and memory of the link device can be specialized/optimizedin order to handle reception, processing and transition of sensor data.For example, there may be stored thereon a link device specificoperating system which is optimized for these tasks. According tocertain embodiments, the idea of the communications device is to be anintelligent relay between sensors and downstream electronics. As such,the communications device may not need to use or display any informationas such and may therefore have only the necessary electronics forefficiently receiving, recording, processing, optimizing, transmittingsensor data or a combination thereof.

The memory of the link device can have stored thereon computer readableinstructions for optimizing at least one characteristic of receivedsensor data. The optimization can be for optimizing the transmission ofdata over a wireless communications channel. According to certainexamples, a link device may include more than one transmitter fortransmitting data. Different transmitters can be for transmitting dataover different wireless communications channels. Optimizing and/orpackaging of received sensor data for transmission can be such that itis optimized and/or packaged for transmission over a specific selectedwireless communications channel. Additionally, the link device may beable to dynamically select the transmission means and/or receivingdevice and then automatically update how received sensor data isoptimized and or packaged. For example, if the link device is connectedto a user's mobile telephone through Bluetooth or NFC, the link devicemay thus optimize the received sensor data to send a minimal amount ofdata for a desired application and send it in a compressed formatuseable by the operating system of the mobile phone. If the link devicethen transitions to a Wi-Fi connection and is sending data directly to aserver device, then the link device can send a greater amount of data,at a lower compression rate or even send e.g. bursts of raw data. One ofordinary skill will recognize other scenarios and ways of optimizing thedisclosed system without departing from the scope of the presentinvention.

The memory of the link device can include computer readable instructionsfor accumulating sensor data from a plurality of sensors. This can beover a period of time, e.g. a continual period. The instructions mayalso include those for compressing raw or accumulated sensor data. Theinstructions may also include causing transmission, e.g. periodically,data, e.g. the compressed accumulated sensor data. The memory of thelink device may also include computer readable instructions for storingraw received sensor data. The raw received sensor data can be stored fora predetermined length of time, regardless of additional processing ortransmission of data from the link device.

As discussed above, the auxiliary device can be an additional powerunit. A system may include one or more auxiliary devices. A system mayinclude one or more additional power units, e.g. a charging unit and/oran auxiliary battery unit. The one or more additional power units and/orauxiliary devices can be separate from and stackable with anotherelement or elements of the system, e.g. the link device. The additionalpower unit can have a case which has a size and geometry which iscompatible with that of the case of the link device such that, e.g. thelink device can be stacked on the at least one additional power unit andthe additional power unit is capable of powering the link device whenstacked.

Additional power units can be a battery or a charging unit. T additionalpower units can be capable of powering the link device, and/or anotherauxiliary device, through inductive coupling when in a stackedconfiguration. Similarly, the link device can be capable of powering anauxiliary unit from it's internal short-term battery through inductivecoupling.

The link device, additional power units, auxiliary device and any otherstackable elements can be capable of being magnetically coupled to eachother in a stacked arrangement. Additionally, the different units of thesystem can be able to communicate with each other wirelessly. Accordingto these examples there would be a minimal number of interfaces betweenthe elements which lead to an increase in reliability of the system.

According to certain examples, the link device includes at least one, ora plurality of, sensors internally within the link device case. Examplesof such sensors are an inertia sensor, a location sensor, velocitysensor, speed sensor, accelerometer, gyroscope, altimeter or barometer.Furthermore, one or more of said sensors can located in one or moreauxiliary sensor units.

Furthermore, the link device and/or an auxiliary unit can include a GPSmodule. The memory of the link device can include computer readableinstructions for determining the location of at least one externalsensor in relation to the link device. This can be done, for example,from sensor data received from the external sensor. The link device canhave instructions for then determining an actual location of theexternal sensor based on the GPS location of the link device and thedetermined location of the external sensor in relation to the linkdevice.

A sensor collection system and/or a stackable communications deviceitself, can include one or more external sensors. These external sensorscan be capable of transmitting sensor data to the link devicewirelessly. They can also be capable of transmitting the sensor data tothe link device directly, e.g. without a relay. Such external sensorsmay or may not be stackable as described above. Additionally, suchexternal sensors may or may not be capable of being powered by one ormore of the disclosed power sources/batteries/charging units describedherein.

Security and privacy can also be concerns when it comes to thecollection, processing and/or transmission of sensor data. The memory ofthe link device can include computer implementable instructions forbeing able to securely pair at least one external sensor with the linkdevice. This secure pairing can be in a paired arrangement such that thetransition of sensor data to the link device is secure. The memory ofthe link device can have stored thereon computer readable instructionsfor securely pairing the link device to a mobile phone. This securepairing can be such that the link device can securely transmit optimizedsensor data to the mobile phone. Furthermore, the link device, or anyother element including any auxiliary units, charging unit or sensorunits can include a hardwired unique ID. The hardwired unique ID can beintegral within electronics of the link ID. Examples of such hardwiredunique ID's can be found in U.S. application Ser. No. 14/631,602 “Systemand method for social platform based private social network” which isincorporated by reference in it's entirety herein.

According to certain examples, the top element of a stack, e.g. the linkdevice, works as communication device during daily activities; it canhave some or all of: Ble, Wi-Fi, LTE data connectivity, a GPS module, aninertia module, a powerful processor and several, e.g. 2, 4, 8, 16+gigabytes of memory. The link device can work as follows; it can gatherdata from one or more sensors. It can store that data until the data iseither necessary, desired or optimal to upload to a device and/orbackend server.

Sensor data can be very draining on system resources. Therefore, thelink device can essentially crunch different sensor data into optimal,e.g. proprietary format, in which the data can be faster and moreeffectively delivered around a bigger system. This can reduce expensiveprocessing time on backend servers. It can also let each user locallyhandle the crunching of the data on one or more of their own linkdevices. The link device can also reduce data usage, e.g. on LTE orWi-Fi, as the data can be optimized before sending. This can save bothmoney and resources for users, particularly in countries like US wheredata plans on phones are expensive.

Crunching/processing data on the link device also saves users' phonebattery if the sensor data would have otherwise been sent directly to aphone. This is because sensor data can be seen as heavy for theelectronics of a phone when the phone is already performing a variety ofother tasks.

A middle device in a stacked arrangement, e.g. the auxiliary device, canwork as an additional battery. For example, it can be clippedmagnetically to link device and allows the device to operate forsubstantially longer than the internal short-term battery, e.g. up to4-6+ days.

A bottom device in a stacked arrangement can be a charger unit. Thecharging unit can accept devices on top of it in any order andcharges/powers some or all of them either directly and/or indirectly.The charger can be powered with a USB input.

The link device can also provide some or all of: basic location, speed,acceleration, attitude, altitude, barometric pressure and inertia dataabout a user and/or the link device itself. This information can also beprovided to other sensors. As such, other sensors can triangulate theirposition relative to the device very accurately. This generatesmicro-location awareness for each individual sensor/unit in a mesh.

The link device can be a platform having it's own operating system, e.g.similar to a mobile phone but customized for dealing with large volumesof data. The link device can also be used similarly as discussed withsensors also with a user's other peripheral devices. These peripheraldevices can connect through the link device for data connectivity, dataoptimization and data storage. Currently all of a user's peripherydevices which are connected to a phone are burden to the phone battery,processing power and connectivity. Therefore, by first connected aperiphery device to a link device as disclosed herein, and furtherconnecting the link device to a mobile phone, then the data associatedwith the periphery device, i.e. anything that can be currently connectedto a mobile phone wirelessly and which generates and/or relays data, canbe optimized and compressed before reaching the mobile phone, therebyincreasing the available resources of the phone to focus on more userimportant activities.

According to certain embodiments, a stackable system has three elements,the link device, the auxiliary battery and the charging unit. The linkdevice is optimized such to be able to be carried around and used duringdaily activities to collect data. Therefore it can be designed to belight and small, an autonomous device which is not a burden to carryaround and used. Battery life can be sufficient for full day of use.However, to keep the link device light, having a sufficient battery foraround one days uses limits long term usability.

Therefore, an additional magnetically attachable battery allows users touse the link device over, e.g. a long weekend such as when hiking, orboating, so they would have power through a longer trip with theadditional battery.

The bottom charging unit can be a wireless charger for the aboveelements. The charging unit, or other designated bottom unit, canfunction as a platform to clip the device to a desired surface. Forexample, if a user wants to leave the link device to communicate sensordata from their summer house, boat or RV, they can clip or otherwiseattach designated bottom unit, e.g. charging unit, to a wall or surfacethere and power up the system without need for batteries or charging.The charging unit can keep all of the stacked devices fully charged andready to take with you.

Furthermore, such systems as described herein can be used to allow livestreaming of sensor data. Sensors can be designed as small as possiblewith small batteries, small processors (if any), and small memories (ifany). Then they can send all of the data to a link device where thestorage and processing takes place on a localized device, rather thanhaving all of those components on each of a plurality of sensors in asingle or integrated system. The Link devices and systems describedherein therefore enable powerful processors, huge memory and big batterylife for the whole system. This allows things such as streaming livedata on fast phased activities such as Formula Karting races which takesa huge amount of processing power and battery for current individualsensors.

Furthermore, there can be a non-transitory computer readable mediumhaving stored thereon a set of computer readable instructions forcausing a processor of a computing device to carry out the methods andsteps described above.

It is to be understood that the embodiments of the invention disclosedare not limited to the particular structures, process steps, ormaterials disclosed herein, but are extended to equivalents thereof aswould be recognized by those ordinarily skilled in the relevant arts. Itshould also be understood that terminology employed herein is used forthe purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is notintended to be limiting.

Reference throughout this specification to “one embodiment” or “anembodiment” means that a particular feature, structure, orcharacteristic described in connection with the embodiment is includedin at least one embodiment of the present invention. Thus, appearancesof the phrases “in one embodiment” or “in an embodiment” in variousplaces throughout this specification are not necessarily all referringto the same embodiment.

As used herein, a plurality of items, structural elements, compositionalelements, and/or materials may be presented in a common list forconvenience. However, these lists should be construed as though eachmember of the list is individually identified as a separate and uniquemember. Thus, no individual member of such list should be construed as ade facto equivalent of any other member of the same list solely based ontheir presentation in a common group without indications to thecontrary. In addition, various embodiments and example of the presentinvention may be referred to herein along with alternatives for thevarious components thereof. It is understood that such embodiments,examples, and alternatives are not to be construed as de factoequivalents of one another, but are to be considered as separate andautonomous representations of the present invention.

Furthermore, the described features, structures, or characteristics maybe combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments. In thefollowing description, numerous specific details are provided, such asexamples of lengths, widths, shapes, etc., to provide a thoroughunderstanding of embodiments of the invention. One skilled in therelevant art will recognize, however, that the invention can bepracticed without one or more of the specific details, or with othermethods, components, materials, etc. In other instances, well-knownstructures, materials, or operations are not shown or described indetail to avoid obscuring aspects of the invention.

While the forgoing examples are illustrative of the principles of thepresent invention in one or more particular applications, it will beapparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that numerousmodifications in form, usage and details of implementation can be madewithout the exercise of inventive faculty, and without departing fromthe principles and concepts of the invention. Accordingly, it is notintended that the invention be limited, except as by the claims setforth below.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A communications device for sensorinformation location, processing, storage and delivery, saidcommunications device comprising a link device having a case having: atleast one receiver for receiving sensor data from at least one externalsensor; at least one transmitter for transmitting data; a processor andmemory for processing and storing received sensor data prior totransmission and a short term battery, and a GPS module, and wherein thememory of the link device has storage capacity for storing raw receivedsensor data, and computer readable instructions for determining thelocation of at least one external sensor in relation to the link devicefrom sensor data received from the external sensor, and to determine anactual location of the external sensor based on the GPS location of thelink device and the determined location of the external sensor inrelation to the link device.
 2. The communications device according toclaim 1, further comprising computer readable instructions on the memoryfor adding the determined actual location of the external sensor toreceived sensor data from said external sensor.
 3. The communicationsdevice according to claim 1, further comprising at least one additionalpower units which is a charging unit, wherein the charging unit has apower input for connecting to an external power source, and wherein thecharging unit is capable of powering the link device and/or anotherpower unit through inductive coupling when in a stacked configuration.4. The communications device according to claim 1, further comprising atleast one external sensor unit which is external from the case of thecommunications device.
 5. The communications device according to claim4, wherein the at least one external sensor unit is a stackable sensorunit, and wherein the stackable external sensor unit has a case with asize and geometry which is compatible with that of the case of the linkdevice for stacking and charging.
 6. The communications device accordingto claim 1, further comprising an additional hard drive unit, whereinthe additional hard drive unit has a case with a size and geometry whichis compatible with that of the case of the link device for stacking andcharging.
 7. The communications device according to claim 1, wherein thememory of the communications device further comprises additionalcomputer implementable instructions for being able to securely pair atleast one external sensor with the communications device in a pairedarrangement such that the transition of sensor data to thecommunications device is secure.
 8. The communications device accordingto claim 1, further comprising at least one sensor within thecommunications device case.
 9. The communications device according toclaim 8, wherein the internal sensor is an inertia sensor, a locationsensor, velocity sensor, speed sensor, accelerometer, gyroscope,altimeter or barometer.
 10. The communications device according to claim1, wherein the memory further includes computer readable instructionsfor accumulating sensor data from a plurality of sensors over acontinual period of time, compressing the accumulated sensor data andperiodically transmitting the compressed accumulated sensor data. 11.The communications device according to claim 10, wherein the memory iscapable of storing raw received sensor data for a predetermined lengthof time, regardless of additional processing or transmission of data onthe communications device.
 12. The communications device according toclaim 1, wherein the case of the communications device, at least oneadditional power unit and any other stackable external elements arecapable of being magnetically coupled to each other in a stackedarrangement.
 13. The communications device according to claim 1, whereinthe memory has stored thereon computer readable instructions forsecurely pairing the communications device to a mobile phone such thatthe communications device can securely transmit sensor data to themobile phone.
 14. The communications device according to claim 1,further comprising a hardwired unique ID, wherein the hardwired uniqueID is integral within electronics of the communications device.
 15. Thecommunications device according to claim 1, wherein the link device isportable.